Poland to get gas from 'fracking' in Europe

A shale gas fracking facility run by Poland's PKN Orlen company is seen on the outskirts of the village of Uscimow, south-eastern Poland, June 15, 2013. (Reuters/Peter Andrews) / Reuters

Poland has begun a test extraction of shale gas in amounts not seen in Europe before. Eager to reduce energy dependency on Russia, Poland has succeeded after three international firms quit drilling in the country.

Lane Energy Poland, controlled by ConocoPhillips, is now
extracting some 8,000 cubic metres of shale gas per day at a test
well in the northern city of Lebork in Poland, Reuters quotes a
polish newspaper. Although the productivity of the site is lower
than at gas fields in the US or Canada, it is still a
breakthrough and marks the first positive result for shale gas
extraction in Europe, according to the Poland's Chief Geologist
Piotr Wozniak.

Another Polish refiner PKN Orlen is also expected to announce the
production results of tests at its well in Syczyn in eastern
Poland, one of the most promising in the country.

Three international majors, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, and
Talisman Energy, dropped out of the programme after they failed
to hit their targets. According to a June report by US Energy
Information Administration (EIA), the estimates for Poland's
shale gas resources have fallen from 187 trillion to 148 trillion
cubic metres.

Poland imports up to 70 percent of its gas from Russia and is
eager to reduce its energy reliance on its neighbor. The country
issued more than 100 shale gas exploration licenses to local and
international firms which have drilled 48 wells so far.

Poland’s shale gas breakthrough sparked talks on Warsaw’s getting
rid of “gas dependence” on Russia in the near future, foreign
media reports. However, the senior analyst at Investcafe
consultancy Grigory Birg told Business RT, Polish shale gas may
lead to minor reduction of gas price for Poland, but won’t have
an impact on the amounts in acquires from Gazprom.

“On the one hand, growth in the supply of gas through the
active development of shale deposits may lead to some reduction
in prices , however, given that the cost of shale gas extraction
never exceeds the cost of traditional gas production, the
potential for lower prices - is limited”, Birg told RT.

Environmental concerns over the technology of fracking has
divided European politicians and society. France and Bulgaria
have completely abandoned the use of fracking. However, at the
moment 12 European countries are running shale gas extraction
tests, Reuters reports.